Re: source of quote?

[Bill Lear <rael@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thursday, March 3, 2005 at 15:10:15 (-0800) Doug Orr writes:
>I hope to get time to rejoin the discussion soon.  But until then, I have a
>question.
>
>I remember a Marine general (or other rank?) who when he retired from the
>military said that he was tired of being a thug for the United Fruit
>company.  Can someone give the source?


     War  is a racket. Our stake in that racket has never been greater
     in all out peace-time history. It may seem odd for me, a military
     man,  to  adopt  such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I
     spent 33 years and 4 months in active service as a member of  our
     country's most agile military force---the Marine Corps...

     I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil
     interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba  a  decent  place
     for  the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped
     in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for  the
     benefit  of  Wall  Street.  The record of racketeering is long. I
     helped purify Nicaragua for the international  banking  house  of
     Brown  Brothers  in  1909-12.  I  brought  light to the Dominican
     Republic for American sugar interests  in  1916.  I  helped  make
     Honduras ``right'' for American fruit companies in 1903...

     Looking  back  on  it,  I feel I might have given Al Capone a few
     hints. The best <em>he</em> could do was to operate his racket  in
     three   city   districts.  We  Marines  operated  on  three  <em>
     continents</em>.

     ---Marine Corps Major General Smedley D. Butler. Twice wounded in
     action and twenty times decorated, Smedley Butler was also one of
     the  few Americans to be twice awarded the Congressional Medal of
     Honor.